Free tool
Minecraft server.properties Generator
Set the common settings, watch the file change as you go, and copy it into your server. Defaults and allowed values follow Minecraft Java 26.3, the latest release.
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server.properties, defaults
#Minecraft server properties #Java Edition 1.21.9 to 26.3, made with space-node.net/minecraft/server-properties-generator allow-flight=false difficulty=easy enable-status=true enforce-secure-profile=true enforce-whitelist=false entity-broadcast-range-percentage=100 force-gamemode=false gamemode=survival generate-structures=true hardcore=false hide-online-players=false level-name=world level-seed= level-type=minecraft\:normal log-ips=true max-players=20 max-world-size=29999984 motd=A Minecraft Server online-mode=true op-permission-level=4 pause-when-empty-seconds=60 player-idle-timeout=0 require-resource-pack=false resource-pack= resource-pack-sha1= simulation-distance=10 spawn-protection=16 view-distance=10 white-list=true
PvP, command blocks, the Nether and monster spawning are on their defaults (true), so there is no game rule to run.
Replace the file, or paste the lines over the matching ones. The server adds any line you leave out with its default value, and reads the file when it starts, so restart it after saving.
Where server.properties lives on a hosted server
The file sits in the server's main folder, next to the server jar, eula.txt and the world folder. On our Minecraft servers you open it in the Pterodactyl panel's file manager or over SFTP, paste in what you made here, save, and restart the server from the panel. There is no port forwarding to do.
Leave server-ip, server-port and query.port out of your changes. Pterodactyl's own Minecraft eggs write those three from your server's allocation before every start (the Paper egg, how eggs edit files), which is why the generator leaves them out.
max-players, view-distance and simulation-distance drive how much memory a server needs. The RAM calculator works out a size from your players, mods and view distance.
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Every setting in the generator, with its 26.3 default
Defaults as a 26.3 server writes them for a new file, from the Minecraft Wiki's server.properties article, which matches the 26.3 server itself. 26.3 came out on 15 September 2026 and is the latest release in Mojang's version list, checked 25 October 2026.
| Setting | Default | Allowed | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Server list | |||
| motd | A Minecraft Server | Text with colour codes | The text under your server's name in the multiplayer list. & and § colour codes work. |
| max-players | 20 | 0 to 2147483647 | The most players that can be online at the same time. |
| enable-status | true | true or false | Shows the server as online in the server list. Off hides it there, but players can still join with the address. |
| hide-online-players | false | true or false | Leaves the names of online players out of the server list. Since 1.18. |
| Players and access | |||
| white-list | truefalse up to 26.2 | true or false | Only players on the whitelist can join. 26.3 turns it on for new servers: add players with /whitelist add <name>, or turn it off for a public server. |
| enforce-whitelist | false | true or false | Kicks online players who are not on the whitelist when the whitelist reloads. |
| online-mode | true | true or false | Checks every player's account with Mojang. Keep it on, unless a proxy such as Velocity checks accounts in front of this server. |
| enforce-secure-profile | true | true or false | Only lets in players with a Mojang-signed chat key. Off leaves chat unsigned, and players see a warning when they join. Since 1.19. |
| player-idle-timeout | 0 | 0 or more minutes | Kicks players who have been idle for this many minutes. 0 never kicks anyone. |
| op-permission-level | 4 | 0 to 4 | The permission level /op gives. Each level includes the ones below it. |
| log-ips | true | true or false | Writes player IP addresses into the console and the log files. Off keeps them out. Since 1.20.2. |
| Gameplay | |||
| gamemode | survival | survival, creative, adventure, spectator | The game mode new players start in. |
| force-gamemode | false | true or false | Puts every player back in that game mode each time they join. |
| difficulty | easy | peaceful, easy, normal, hard | How much damage mobs do and how hunger and poison work. |
| hardcore | false | true or false | Hardcore for a world the server creates: locked to hard difficulty, and players cannot respawn. |
| allow-flight | false | true or false | Lets players fly in Survival with mods. With it off, players who stay in the air for about 5 seconds are kicked; some modpacks need it on. |
| spawn-protection | 16 | 0 or more blocks | Only ops can build within this many blocks of the world spawn: 16 covers a 33 by 33 square, 0 turns it off. It only works once the server has an op. |
| World | |||
| level-name | world | A folder name | The world folder. Set it to the name of a world folder you uploaded to load that world. |
| level-seed | (blank) | Any number or text, or blank | The seed for a new world. Leave it blank for a random one. |
| level-type | minecraft:normal | normal, flat, large_biomes, amplified, single_biome_surface, or a modpack preset | The world preset for a new world. Modpacks can add their own presets; pick Other to type one. |
| generate-structures | true | true or false | Villages, temples and other structures in newly generated chunks. |
| max-world-size | 29999984 | 1 to 29999984 | How far from the centre of the world the world border can reach, in blocks. |
| Performance | |||
| view-distance | 10 | 3 to 32 | How many chunks around each player the server sends, as a radius. Lower it if the server lags. |
| simulation-distance | 10 | 3 to 32 | How far from players, in chunks, the server keeps updating mobs and other entities. Lower it if the server lags. Since 1.18. |
| entity-broadcast-range-percentage | 100 | 10 to 1000 | How far away players see entities, as a percentage of the normal range. Higher values cost more. |
| pause-when-empty-seconds | 60 | 0 or more seconds (0 turns the pause off) | The server saves and stops updating the world this many seconds after the last player leaves. 0 keeps it running. Since 1.21.2. |
| Resource pack | |||
| resource-pack | (blank) | A URL, or blank | A download link to a resource pack that players get when they join. |
| resource-pack-sha1 | (blank) | 40 hex characters, or blank | The pack's SHA-1 hash in lowercase hex, so the game can check the download. |
| require-resource-pack | false | true or false | Disconnects players who decline the resource pack. |
The four settings that became game rules
Minecraft 1.21.9 took four settings out of server.properties and made them game rules, which you change with /gamerule while the server runs (25w35a). 1.21.11 renamed game rules to lower case with underscores, which is how 26.3 spells them (Game rule). All four default to true.
| Up to 1.21.8 | Game rule on 1.21.11 and 26.3 | On 1.21.9 and 1.21.10 | To switch it off |
|---|---|---|---|
| pvp=trueWhether players can hurt each other. | pvp | pvp | gamerule pvp false |
| enable-command-block=falseWhether command blocks run their commands. | command_blocks_work | commandBlocksEnabled | gamerule command_blocks_work false |
| allow-nether=trueWhether players can enter the Nether through portals. | allow_entering_nether_using_portals | allowEnteringNetherUsingPortals | gamerule allow_entering_nether_using_portals false |
| spawn-monsters=trueWhether monsters spawn naturally. | spawn_monsters | spawnMonsters | gamerule spawn_monsters false |
Command blocks are the one to watch after an update: enable-command-block was false by default, while the game rule command_blocks_work is true. Type the commands in the server console as shown, or in chat with a / in front as an op.
Example: a public survival server on 26.3
A server for about 30 friends who should be able to join without a whitelist. These are the only lines that change; the server keeps the defaults for the rest, and PvP goes off with one game rule.
Changed lines in server.properties
difficulty=normal max-players=30 motd=\u00A76Pinewood SMP \u00A77| \u00A7aSurvival for everyone simulation-distance=6 spawn-protection=0 view-distance=8 white-list=false
Run in the server console
gamerule pvp false
- white-list=false: anyone can join; 26.3 would otherwise only let in players on the whitelist.
- max-players=30 and difficulty=normal for a group of friends who want some challenge.
- view-distance=8 and simulation-distance=6 load fewer chunks than the default of 10 when many players spread out.
- spawn-protection=0 so everyone can build at spawn, and a coloured motd, where \u00A7 is the § sign.
- gamerule pvp false in the console, because PvP is a game rule since 1.21.9.
server.properties FAQ
- It is the settings file of a Minecraft Java server: one setting per line, written as key=value. The server creates it on its first start, fills in any setting that is missing with its default, and reads it every time it starts, so a change only counts after a restart. Paper, Fabric and Forge servers use the same file.
- In the server's main folder, next to the server jar, eula.txt and the world folder. On a Pterodactyl panel you open it in the file manager or over SFTP. Leave server-ip, server-port and query.port as they are: Pterodactyl's own Minecraft eggs write them from your server's allocation before every start.
- Since 26.3, a new server writes white-list=true, so only players on the whitelist can join. Add your friends with /whitelist add <name>, or set white-list=false for a public server. A server you update to 26.3 keeps the value it already had, because the server copies existing values from the file.
- Since 1.21.9, pvp, enable-command-block, allow-nether and spawn-monsters are game rules instead of lines in server.properties, so you can change them while the server runs (25w35a). On 26.3 you type gamerule pvp false in the console, or /gamerule pvp false in game as an op. Watch command blocks after an update: the old enable-command-block was false by default, the game rule command_blocks_work is true.
- Both default to 10, which the Minecraft Wiki calls the recommended value, and both take 3 to 32. view-distance is how far around each player the server sends the world, simulation-distance how far from players mobs and other entities keep moving. If the server lags, lower them; higher values load more chunks and need more memory. Our view and simulation distance guide goes deeper.
- Use colour codes: § followed by a character, such as §a for green. In server.properties the § is best written as \u00A7, which every server version reads the same way, and \n starts the second line. The generator turns & codes into that form for you, and the MOTD generator builds a two-line MOTD with a preview of the server list.
- With online-mode off, the server stops checking accounts with Mojang, so anyone can join under any name. Keep it on, unless the server sits behind a proxy such as Velocity: then the proxy checks accounts, and Velocity's docs tell you to set online-mode=false on the server behind it.
- Added in 1.21.2, it pauses the server once nobody has been online for that many seconds, 60 by default. The server saves the world when the pause starts and stops updating it until a player joins. Set it to 0 to keep the world running, for example for force-loaded chunks.
- Yes. The server reads server.properties when it starts, so save the file and restart the server. When it starts, the server also writes the file again in its own format, so the escapes may look different afterwards while the values stay the same.
Related pages
MOTD generator
Two lines in colour, with a preview of the server list
PaperMC hosting
Plugin servers on Paper, Purpur and Spigot
Modpack hosting
RAM guide and loaders for popular CurseForge and Modrinth packs
Server networks
Several servers behind a Velocity or BungeeCord proxy
More reading: server.properties explained, setting up a whitelist, op commands and the keep inventory game rule.
Sources checked 25 October 2026: Minecraft Wiki (server.properties, Game rule, Permission level) and the 26.3 server itself.
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